"Once upon a time, in a forest, there lived a fierce wolf, and one day he fell into a hunter's trap and was caught in an iron trap. It so happened that a goat passed by and wrenched away the iron clamp and saved the wolf. After that, the wolf and the goat became the best of friends, playing and frolicking together, inseparable."

　　"Granny, aren't wolves and goats natural enemies?"

　　"Yes, the wolf's nature is to eat the sheep, they should have been natural enemies, but they became friends by mistake. The wolf said to the sheep, "You saved my life, and from now on, I will protect you. So, no more animals dared to hit the sheep, and everyone knew how powerful the wolf was. Soon after, there was a great drought like no other. For two years in a row, not a drop of rain fell in the forest. The grass and trees withered, the animals kept starving to death, and there were corpses lying everywhere. And the wolves and the sheep, too, were dying of hunger."

　　Fascinated by the story, I pursued, "What happened after that?"

　　The old woman continued, "At this time, the wolf and the sheep quarreled over a small matter, and the wolf swung his sharp claws in anger and killed the sheep. Before the sheep died, the wolf was very regretful, crying and asking the sheep to forgive him, but the sheep said, the wolf ate the sheep, it was natural, it was destined by heaven. Looking at the sheep's corpse, the wolf did something." When she finished, she stopped and said, "That's the end of the story."

　　I called out, "What was the last thing the wolf did, you haven't said."

　　She looked at me with burning eyes, "If you were this wolf, what would you do? There are two answers, you can only choose one. First, the hungry wolf eats the sheep. Second, the wolf committed suicide in remorse."

　　I froze as the old woman slowly said, "There is no fixed ending to this story, only choices. Tell me, which one do you choose?"

　　I thought about it and said, "I will choose the first answer because I want to live."

　　The old woman hemmed and hawed, "You are not hypocritical. However, if it were me, I would choose the second answer."

　　"Why?"

　　"To dominate my own destiny!" She droned out word by word, stone cold. A head full of white hair flew, and her gaze flashed with a strange light. In this instant, in front of me, it was as if it was no longer a decrepit old man, but a heroic heavenly god.

　　I was struck by an idea: "Granny, I understand! If the wolf eating the sheep is God's destiny; then the wolf choosing to commit suicide is fighting against destiny!"

　　The old woman laughed heartily, "Good boy, you have some spiritual roots! Let me ask you again, was it destiny that the wolf killed the sheep?"

　　I pondered for a moment and shook my head, "No. The forest was in a severe drought and the wolf was about to starve to death, deep down, I'm afraid that it had long wanted to eat the sheep."

　　The old woman slapped my shoulder violently, "Good! You finally understand that it is not fate that is doomed, but the heart! It's not destiny that one has to fight against, but one's own heart, ah! It is we, ourselves, who determine our own destiny!"

　　I said indistinctly, "One's greatest enemy is also oneself, right?"

　　The old woman smiled faintly, "Well said, becoming, dwelling, destruction, and emptiness are the destiny of all living beings in the Northern Realm, and the only one who can break through the destiny is one's own heart, not some map of the Self-Realising Heavens."

　　"Success," "Dwelling," "Bad," and "Empty," I've heard the three beauties say it quite a few times, but don't quite understand what it meant. So I asked, "Granny, what the heck is Success, Dwelling, Badness, and Emptiness?"

　　The old woman said, "When the Nine Heavens of the North was formed, it was 'becoming'; when people and demons were born and reproduced in this land, it was 'dwelling'; when people and demons fought and killed each other, it was 'badness '; in the end, all living beings can't escape death, and the Northern Realm reverts to nothingness, which is 'emptiness'. Success, residence, badness, and emptiness are the laws of personnel, or predestination."

　　I said indistinctly, "Like in the story, the forest drought and the constant death of animals is the so-called badness."

　　The old woman nodded and gazed at the pattern on the ground, "Although one's fate is ultimately decided by oneself. But how to decide is a difficult and profound study that requires subtle projections. Over the years, I've been painstakingly researching in the belly of the dragon whale for more than a decade, but I've still made very little progress."

　　I said suspiciously, "Deciding one's own fate is also a study?"

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　　The old woman let out a "hmmm", and suddenly a trace of pain appeared on her face as she pressed her palms together in vain, and her entire body floated up and swept backward at great speed. In front of a huge blood ball that was pulsating, she stopped, lifted up the hem of her robe, and pressed her legs tightly against the blood ball. I was horrified to find that her legs were covered in dark green liquid, sticky, as if the liquid had a life, still wriggling upwards, wanting to climb all over her body.

　　"This large blood ball, is the heart of the dragon whale." The old woman calmly said, "More than ten years ago, I was put under a poisonous spell, and I could only live by relying on the blood juice of the dragon whale's heart. This is fate, I guess, I am destined to end my remaining life in the belly of the dragon whale."

　　My heart snapped. The dragon whale's heart looked like a peach, constantly expanding and contracting, with long, thick green tendons gnarled on its surface, which secreted bright red blood juice that dripped onto the old woman's leg. Soon, the dark green liquid stopped crawling, and after a little while longer, the liquid slowly receded downwards, all the way to her ankles, stagnating. She lowered the hem of her coat and sneered, "The poisonous spell strikes twice a day, I've long since grown accustomed to it."

　　I said indignantly, "Granny, who is so malicious to harm you like this?"

　　The old woman smiled miserably, "It was my husband."

　　I was dumbfounded as the old woman indifferently said, "I chose my husband myself, so my fate of being put under a poisonous spell is also my own making. Kid, I'm a bit tired, tomorrow you can come back to talk with me. Feel free to take the secret scrolls here."

　　I said with concern, "Granny, are you alright? If there's anything you need, just order me to do it."

　　The old granny's eyes flickered, "Kid, I've only given you a few secret scrolls, and that's enough to make you thankful?"

　　I sighed softly, "A poor man, a silver ingot from someone else's charity is equal to a world. Having too little, one would in turn cherish it more. Granny, I'm leaving, get some rest, I'll come back to see you tomorrow." Bending down and giving a salute, I turned to leave.

　　Behind me, came the old woman's maniacal laughter, "That's right, having too much is in turn like throwing it away! It's my fault, it's my own fault!"

　　I was gloomy in my heart, the old woman also had a sad past. Returning to the Mushroom Forest, I sat down and flipped through the two secret manuals in my hands.

　　The first thing I looked at was the Mirror Pupil Secret Dao Technique, which was a secret Dao technique for cultivating the eyes. Without seeing it, I was shocked to see that the eyes could also be used for defence and attack. Simply put, the Mirror Pupil Secret Dao Art is to cultivate both eyes as if they were a mirror, and can see through any illusion, somewhat like Gan Lime Zhen's Lotus Eyes. But what's even more awesome than Lotus Eyesight is that it can send the opponent's attacking moves back unchanged for a counterattack, just like a mirror can reflect light. However, it also has a drawback, if the enemy attacks from behind or from the side, I can't see it with my eyes, so I can't play my role.

　　On the last page of the secret manual, there was a line of vermilion pen's approval, the handwriting was as dashing and elegant as white clouds coming out of a mountain: "If it can be cultivated in conjunction with the Mystic Pupil Demon Classic, it will be even more powerful."

　　This line of instructions was probably written by Granny. I hastily flipped through the Illusory Pupil Secret Taoist Technique and picked up the Earthly Demon Scripture again. On the first page then appeared the vermilion pen's approval, which read, "Be at peace and immovable as the earth." Reading further, I realised that the endorsement on the first page had already covered the essence of the entire secret manual. The core of the Earth Store Demon Technique is the word "An Xin" (peace and patience). It uses the earth of the five elements as its foundation, and through the demonic art, the body is connected to the earth. No matter how much the opponent attacks, it will be transferred to the vast, boundless earth.

　　I concentrated on going through the secret manual, completely forgetting to take a break. I don't know how long it took, but when I stood up to pee, I suddenly saw a bit of white light being on the opposite side, flickering.

　　"Holy shit, you did it again!" I yelled, pouncing on the white light. It flew backward again, and I chased after it, and when I reached the vicinity of the dragon whale's heart, it abruptly flickered and hid behind the old woman.